After the introduction, you can create your character for the campaign, but don’t expect anything you haven’t seen in other games. You have limited options, and not all of them look good. Fortunately, you don’t have to look at your character most of the time. For some reason, the characters look very low poly as well. I played the game on a current-generation Xbox; even mobile game characters have more polygons than the ones in Ride3.  The campaign mode is also very lacklustre; you are essentially just trying to finish races so you can unlock tracks and earn credits for bikes and gear. There is nothing beyond this goal to play the campaign unless you are really into the unskippable monologue about how bike racers are amazing.

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That said, the actual meat of the game is pretty good. The bikes look great and handle even better, but since this is a proper sim and not an arcade game, you need to pay attention to everything. For beginners, however, there are aids you can turn on that will have your bike turning, slowing down and speeding up at the right time. Needless to say, doing that sucks out the soul of the game. You earn credits from the campaign, which can go into unlocking gear and bikes. There are over 270 motorbikes available from 20 manufacturers and that’s something any enthusiast will love. There is also plenty of gear to unlock and tweak the look of your rider with your favourite brand.

The tracks, bikes, and the world look very impressive. The game has a 24-hour day cycle, and at every point, regardless of whether it’s day or night, the tracks and the lighting look fabulous. They are using Unreal 5 for this game, so it makes sense that things look amazing. So the question remains: Why doesn’t it consistently look good? Why do the humans in the game look so bad? Why do the TV camera replays look so bad while the first-person view of the same replay looks gorgeous? These are questions that we never get the answer to because none of it makes any sense. What is important, though, is that the game plays well.

This game also has a bonus split-screen multiplayer option, which most game developers ignore nowadays. If your PC friend, and PS5 friend need a common platform to compete with you, this game is for you, since the crossplay makes things interesting. Ride 5 is not a game for everyone; it is a hardcore motorbiking sim with an emphasis on “hardcore”. Playing it is tough, and if you are willing to endure, you will be rewarded with more bikes and the guarantee of being the only one in your group of friends who is good at something no one else cares about. If you are one of the elite gamers who just love racing around on a bike, this game should definitely be on your list. For most ordinary humans, though, this is an easy miss, especially if you don’t care about the sport.

The slender bender robot

Pic/Youtube

Engineers at CU Boulder have unveiled a miniature robot named CLARI (Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect) that can passively change its shape to navigate through tight spaces. Weighing less than a Ping Pong ball, CLARI is inspired by the adaptability of insects. Designed by Heiko Kabutz and Kaushik Jayaram, the robot can transform its shape from square to slender when needed. Its modular design even allows for additional legs, offering prospects for eight-legged, spider-like robots in the future. Although currently tethered to wires for power and commands, the team envisions CLARI functioning independently in areas such as collapsed buildings or jet engines. Unlike traditional robots, CLARI’s legs function almost like separate robots, each having its own circuit board and actuators.

Wonders of Supernova

Pic/NASA

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has initiated a study on the well-known Supernova 1987A, located 168,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This supernova has been under intense observation across various wavelengths for nearly four decades. New data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) has provided key insights into the supernova’s structural development. The telescope has revealed a ‘keyhole’ structure at the center, filled with dense gas and dust, surrounded by a bright equatorial ring. Unique crescent-like features, part of the supernova’s outer gas layers, have also been identified. These structures provide new clues about the evolving nature of supernovae.